Improvement in boots and shoes



ILPETERS, FHOTOsLITHDGHAP .UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 49,1l8, dated August 1, 1865.

To all whom it may concer/n Be it known that-I, IsAIAH T. J ONES, ofSandwich, in the county' of Barnstable, in the State of Massachussetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boots and Shoes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

My invention 'relates to the employment of points, or the like, driven down at proper in- Atervals near the edge ofthe filling D, and passfaoin gs or wearing-plates of iron or other hard material, sometimes known as heel-irons and toe-irons.7

It has been common to attach-to the bottom of the sole, particularly at the heel, a strip of iron extending around the edge; but the space within this strip has heretofore been left open and liable to accumulate mud, snow, Sto., to be thus transferred vinto the interior of dwellings.`

Thefastenings also have been liable to become `loosened aftera brief period, or to present an gular points and edges which tend to destroy carpets and the like.

Myinvention consists,irst, in securing the metal strip by fastenin gs inserted in a thinner part or thinner parts within or nearer the oenter of the sole than the main `bearing-strip; second, in providing spaces along the line of the fastenings,' through which spaces pegs or other fastenings may pass to secure a filling of leatheror the like; third, in filling the space within the bearin g-strip with leather or the like,

-so as to exclude all foreign materials and make the surface of the sole, whether it be toe or heel,flush or even; and, fourth, in holding. or aiding to hold such tillin g, by causing it to dovetail or otherwise lock under a portion of the hearing-strip.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation by the aid of the accompanying drawings, and of the letters of reference marked thereon.

Figure l is a face view of the entire bottom of a shoe. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section. Fig. 3 is a view of one of my heel-plates separate from the other parts; and Fig. 4 is a cross section ofthe bottom of a heel, on theline -S S in Figs. 1 and 2, before the final lift or filling-piece is applied.

Ais the sole, and A the heel, of a shoe in an inverted position. i

B is a wearing-strip or iron piece adapted to promote the endurance of the shoe.A Itis bev eled under on its inner edge. l

-B' are thin lugs extendinginivard from the inner edge of the bearing strip.

B2 are the spaces between the lugs.

C C are screws or other suitable fastenings introduced through the lugs B.

D isa filling of leather, and E are pegs, shoeing through the spaces B2. The edge ofthe lling D is beveled, asrepresented, to corres .pond with the dovetailed or counter-beveled inner edge otl the bearing-pieces or heel-irons and toe-irons B. I introduce the fillingI) While it is moist and pliable by springingitinto a dishing form. On being flattened with a ham mer or otherwise it extends itself and takes firmly under the beveled edges of B.

I propose to cast orotherwise producemy heel and toe irons B in large quantities `at a suitable manufactory. The shoe-maker will make the other parts ot' his shoes or boot-s in any approved manner. He will apply andproperly lit the pieces B in the manner represented, taking care to observe the position ot' the lugs B', so that he may avoid them in applying his fastenings E. After the pieces B have been strongly secured by the fastenings C 11e will apply the filling D in the manner described, and after flattening it properly will drive the pegs or points E and finish the face and edges by suitable means. The shoe is now ready for use, and the wearingsurfaces soprepared will exhibit an attractive appearence, will be no more liable to transportdirt or snow than ordinary leather shoes, and may Wear a .long`time, by reason ofthe considerable thickness allowable to the bearing part B.

My irons B may be renewed at any time, by obvious means, on removing the filling D and the fastenin gs C.

In placing the irons upon the toe the forward part of the sole must be out to t to the inside of the plate D, and the plate must be placed in position and fastened before the sole is fastened.

The filling may be made of hard wood or gutta-percha, or any suitable material which is slightly elastic, but leather I consider the most desirable.

It will be observed that I can increase thev number of the lugs B' to any extent necessary, and may widen them so as tojoin them into a continuous rim or lip; but it is important that they be thin, so as to leave all the wear to come on the thick portion B. I prefer to divide the thin part B by the spaces B2, as represented.

I am aware that the edges of the bottoms of boots and shoes have been before provided with metallic protections in many ingenious forms, and that some of these have been filled up in the interior with a filling-piece held by screws and the like devices; but I believe that my invention possesses very clearlylreoognizable advantages over any such constructions,

'especially in the use and renewal ofthe wearing parts and their adjuncts when the boot or shoe has partially worn out. The constructions known to me which approximate to my invention in their functions either involved an inn creased first cost or involved a renewal ot' a larger quantity of metal and a larger portion of the shoe in reparing. Most of such are inand making over ofthe whole shoe. By reason ot' the fact that my wearing-plate B is so con-4 structed as to apply afterthe heel or toe is nearly completed, and to be renewed with little trouble, and is notsecured by screws or thelike through the mass of its substance, butthrough a thinner partorparts inside, I am able to wear the plate nearly ont before the fastenings are exposed to any wear, and am better able to cover them, anddefend the space against the liability to transport dirt or snow, by asingle filling, D, as described. By reason ofthe fact that my filling D is applied so as to tit upon or over the part or parts B and to till the entire space contained within B, I am able to exclude alldirt and snow cheaply, and in a manner with which shoemakers everywhere may rapidly become familiar, and which requires no screw-drivers or other tools not used in their craft. By reason ofthe fact that the spaces B2 intervene to divide the parts B' into several distinct lugs, in lieu of one continuous rim, I am able to drive the fastenings E which confine the tllling D much nearer the edge, and consequently to hold the part D more eiectually than would otherwise be the case. By reason of the fact that the filling D is dovetailed undertheinner edge ofthe main or thick part B of my plate, I am able to hold the filling more eifectually, in case the fastenings E are used, and even to hold it with tolerable security without any such fastenings.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

Beveling under the inner surface of the part B, so as to aid in retaining the filling D, and to allow the pegs or equivalent fastenings E to be placed very near the edge, in combination with the thin lugs or parts B, extending inward from B under the filling-piece D, suhstan tially as and forthe purposeherein setforth ISAIAH T. JONES.

Witnesses:

E. L. SPARE, CHARLES B. HALL. 

